Siemens to expand digitalised rail services

Siemens has acquired the MRX Technologies Group, headquartered in Perth, Australia, and is further expanding its offering in the field of predictive maintenance services based on digitalisation.

MRX Technologies Group comprises JRB Engineering Pty Ltd., MRX Technologies Ltd., MRX Rail Services Pty Ltd. and MRX Rail Service UK Ltd and has been offering services for manufacturers and operators of rail systems since 1996. The company has a comprehensive portfolio for the digitalised condition monitoring of rolling stock components and rail infrastructure and it delivers extensive measurement data used to optimise the maintenance of rail systems and make them more cost-efficient.

“Siemens is focusing on condition-based and predictive maintenance,” said Johannes Emmelheinz, CEO of Siemens’ rail service business. “The digital monitoring of components and systems combined with the analysis of the resulting Big Data by our system experts enables these experts to spot sources of problems at an early stage. With the MRX Technologies Group, we are gaining a highly competent partner for collecting a full spectrum of measurement data related to rail systems – as the basis of our central diagnostics system.”

The predictive maintenance of rolling stock and rail infrastructure is gaining in importance with operators demanding complete availability of their rolling stock and infrastructure, since failures cost money, cause delays and the annoyance of passengers, transport purchasers and freight customers. Rail operators are therefore increasingly shifting responsibility for maintenance to the rolling stock manufacturers and as a result, orders for new rolling stock are often coupled with long-term maintenance contracts, at times extending to the end of the planned system lifecycle.

“Our goal is to offer our customers even higher system availability,” added Jim Blair, Shareholder and Managing Director of the MRX Technologies Group. “We are combining the digitalisation of service-relevant data with the data analytics system and expertise of Siemens – making a unique offering in the industry. Together, we will lead the rail industry into the digital future.”

Closing the transaction for the acquisition of MRX Technologies Group is expected early in July.